CROTCHET CASTLE. 616 CROUP. CROTCHET CASTLE. A novel by Thomas Jxive Peacock (1831). The story is only a thread MMving to connect a series of amusing satires on tlic learned foibles of the day. The scene is laid at Crotchet Castle, the country home of Kbenezer MaoCrotchet, where a company of oddi- ties are gathered. The strongest character is Doctor Folliott, a combative clergyman, full of
- >.nti])athies and classical quotations.
CKO'TON (Neo-Lat., from Gk. Kporui; Kpbruv, hrotOn, tick, shrub bearing the castor-berry, which was thought to resemble a tick). A genus of plants of the natural order Euphorbiaceue. The species are numerous, mostly tropical or sub-tropical trees or shrubs, a few herbaceous. Some of them possess in a very high degree the acrid properties so characteristic of the order to wiiich tlu'V belong. Among these, the most important is the purging eroton (Croton. tiy- liiim), a small tree, a native of India and the more easterly tropical parts of Asia. The leaves are extremely acrid: the wood in a fresh state is a drastic, and in a dried state, a more mild purgative : and the seeds ( croton seeds or tilly Kcrds) are an extremely powerful drastic purga- tive, formerly much employed in Europe, but latterly disused on account of violence and un- certainty of action, although still valuable as yielding croton oil (q.v. ). They are oval, or oval-obhing. about the size of tield-beans. The oil is obtained mostly by expression, and partly by treating the cake with alcohol. Other species possess similar properties. Very different prop- erties are found in the species which yield cas- carilla (q.v.) and copalche (q.v.) barks, to which a. great resemblance exists in the barks of a number of species, natives chiefly of South America. Other species are still more aromatic, and some delightfully fragrant, containing in great abundance a thickish. balsamic sap. The sap of Croton (/ratissimus is much employed as a ])erfume and cosmetic at the Cape of Good Hope; that of Croton- nriganifolius is used in the West Indies as a substitute for balsam of co- paiva: that of Croton flarens. also West Indian, furnishes ea» de Mantes by distillation; and the Iialsamic sap of some South American species is dried and used as incense. Croton laccifertis, which grows abundantly in Ceylon, is an impor- tant lac-tree. There are quite a number of spe- cies in the United States, chiefly in the South- west, but they have little economic value. The plants extensively cultivated by florists in hot- houses as crotons belong to the genus Codifeum. They have very curioTs and often highly colored leaves. CROTO'NA, or CROTON (Lat., from Gk. Kp6Tur, Krotun). A Greek colony in south Italy, on the east coast of Bnittium. founded probably al>out B.C., 700, by Achaeans. Situated near a gu(]d harbor and in a fertile territory. Crotona rapidly became wealthy, and was famous for its Olympian victors, especially the great athlete !Milo, who is said to have led the army in the war with Sybaris. .Ibout B.C. 5.30 the city became the home of Pythagoras (q.v.). and the Pythagorean brotherhood the rulers of the city. P.ut soon after the destruction of Sybaris (B.C. 510) a reaction set in and the Pythagoreans were expelled. The power of Crotona sank rapidly during the fifth and foiTrth centuries B.C. It was captured by Dionysius the Elder of Syra- cuse, and later by Agathocles, and in the war between Pyrrluis and the Romans was i)lundered and nearly destroyed. It recovered somewhat, lint suflered severely in the Second Punic War, and, though made the seat of a Roman colony in B.C. 194, was never after a place of importance. The modern name is Cotrone. CRO'TON AQUEDUCT. See Aqueduct for descriptions of both the old and the new Croton Aqueduct. CROTON BUG. See Cockroach. CROTON EL'EUTE'RIA. See Cascabilla. CROTON OIL. The fixed oil obtained by expressing the seeds of the Croton tiglium, cul- tivated in India and the Philippine Islands. It is a viscid liquid varying in color from a pale yellow to a reddish brown or deep sherry. It is insoluble in water and but sparingly soluble in alcohol, ether, carbon disulphide, and many other organic solvents. It has an acrid taste and an unpleasant fatty odor. It contains tic/linic acid, CjHgOj, crotonol, CijH.jO,, and the glycerides of several fatty acids. Croton oil is a powerful irritant, ^'hen rubbed upon the skin it produces rubefaction and pustular eruption. It is now rarely used in medicine, being prescribed for the purpose of stimulating the skin in alopecia, and internally to relieve very obstinate consti- pation. CROTON RIVER. A river of New York, rising in Dutchess County. It flows southwest tlirovigh Putnam and Westchester counties, and empties into the Hudson River (q.v.) just above Sing Sing, and 30 miles above New York City. The Croton River is about 60 miles in length, drains an area of 340 square miles, and in its basin are fifteen storage lakes and ponds which furnisli the chief part of the water-supply of New York City. CRO'TUS RU'BIA'NUS. The assumed name of .Johannes .J.ger (c.l4S0-c.l540) . A German humanist, born at Dornheim, Thuringia. Next to Ulrich von Hutten, he was the most important contributor to the famous Epistotw Ohscurormn Virornni (q.v.). CROUCH, Frederick Nicholls (1808-96). .
Anglo-.merican musician, bora in London.
He came of a musical family, and was himself remarkably precocious. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music and with Boehso, and when only nine years old was a 'cellist in the Royal Co- burg theatre. Subsequently he was in the orches- tras of Queen Adelaide and at Drury Lane the- atre, after which he became a teacher and singer in Plymoulh. In 1S49 he came to the United States, acting in various capacities as musical director, teacher, and chorister. During the Civil War he served in the Confederate Army, and upon its close, having lost all his books and manu- scripts, became a gardener at Buckingham Court- house. Through the kindness of his old ai-ray com- rades he was enabled to reestablish himself as a teacher. He died in Portland, ilaine. His com- positions were almost exclusively songs, and com- prise "Kathleen ^Mavourneen :" "The Soldier's Grave:" "The Emigrant's Lament:" "Twenty Years Ago:" and "Friendship," all of which be- came extremely popular. CROUP ( Scotch croupe, crope, to croak, make a liarsli noise). Since the discovery of the
